Petits Haricots

well, sorry for the 2 ad posts in the middle! the resources post is fine, as we love games, but the otter one stuck there for some friends,a s the easiest place to put it. ANYWAY, MOVING ON…

I worked thurs and fri, SB had her holiday orch concerts – v much enjoyed singing in 2 choirs, as ws worried about playing the recorder. BB went and had her hosp appt on thurs, lost more weight, but rash gone and no protein so hopefully will not have any long term probs. she then went on to nanna’s, having missed the stay the week before as in hosp.

fri i was working, but home mid-aft so could stay with SB whilst BB picked up, and made some cakes and sausage rolls and biscuits etc to take to the deependers for new years eve. Lots of other lovely friends going too, so i knew it would be just right. more an evening of conviviality rather than a saying goodbye to one year and hello to the next. We ate well, chatted well, played games and stayed up a bit too late i think before coming home.

The next morning was a planned mass geocache, and although drizzling when we got there, it cleared as we went round, and grad everyone was there, and it was a fab walk around a lovely ex gravel pit. we did split up at one point, but all joined again to find the cache after following the 3 clues def good to go for a walk to clear the air. back to deependers to eat more of yesterdays food and to sing happy birthday. I had made a tunis cake, which i thought turned out quite well actually. ppl all grad going home, including us, and galoka had a v v early night!

sunday we had a home games day, and played a number of diff games with the girls, bit of crafting, bit of watching something meandery kind of day and today we put up the trampoline, and the girls bounced as night fell both are v v happy with it, and using the back burglar floodlight was fun

i have been asked about a lot is my iphone case. mine is in glorious pink, as at the time it was 10 cheaper but otherwise might have gone for the wasp

they have been dropped alot, drooled over by babies etc and not let us down at all.

in case you are wondering, i still have insomnia, and even the tablets aren’t helping. SO, I thought I hadn’t do a resources post for a while, so am popping up some fav games – the list isn’t exhaustive .

But it does come across that we are a little bit addicted to them…

BB likes playing these, as well has her new game, Giro Galoppo. she also loves ludo. the rubbish recycling game is a bit younger child for the whole family, tho we play with her. The others, tho are fun for the whole family. i do like games that we can all play together. for set, with a younger child, we tend to take turns rather than see who can win. treehouse is a really useful little game that fits into a small handbag for playing on trains, or in cafes and restaurants whilst awaiting a meal and desperately trying to keep face v good for small as well as larger children. Bohnanza, or the bean game has a v simple premise, and you can play cooperatively with younger children or demonically with other adults with BB we tend to only go once through the pack of cards rather than 3 times due to attention span. A v much loved game, and usually comes on hols with us, as doesn’t take much space. would be possible for longer train journeys and flights too. Set encourages pattern recognition, and is kind of critical thinking in a game. She also often chooses to play Gamewright Hisss Card Game and Landlock, both we bought from playmerrily, though I think they are discontinued now there are loads of other small child games

these are the games SB has played most this christmas. like her parents, she likes games playing . Alhambra is a good game, with simple rules that sometimes over strategising makes it go horribly wrong! it is quite hard to predict at the beginning who will be the winner. We like to have games that are ‘different’ to each other, rather than all working in the same way, so alhambra really acheives this. there is quite a chance element to it, as well as strategy. i guess we play more gently with the kids than some families we know ,especiallly when it comes to puerto rico. I think, on the whole, this is a game for kids who play games and adults, rather than a first game. it is long, convoluted, and strategy absolutely required [tho it can be completely queered by your other game players] it takes quite a while, and we have managed to adapt to a 2 player, and tend to play not so competitively as you can with SB, though obv with other adults no holds barred . SMallworld was her christmas game, and i guess it is our only game where shafting other players is part of the key strategy so it is again quite different from the others. I am actually not a competitve player [hears snorts of ppl reading this] as actually i think i enjoy winning cos of strategy rather than killing my competitors! but actually a pretty enjoyable game with SB, might be not the same for me with someone with a more ruthless streak, but then, they would partic love it!! i hate monopoly, but she plays this with her cousin. She also enjoys the games BB plays, and games that we play too. It is quite hard really to shortlist! I guess all time favs would probably include

we don’t own all those games friends have some of them. BB likes blokus too. and she is starting to play by the rules! We have the three player ticket to ride, as bought that as often do 2 or 3 player games with sb, and the larger ones wouldn’t really work. it is a lovely game in its own right, the rules are slightly diff, but we would all recommend this for a family to purchase, either the smaller game like us or the bigger game, depending on number of likely players. sb likes the labyrinth game at friends, def one aimed for kids of her age, but fine for adults too, and well enjoyed. a friend has fire and ice, and i periodically think of purchasing that, a sort of variation on chinese checkers, and quite different from anything we currently have. and also a beautifully tactile game we have made variants of that and similar games ourselves though. Blokus is again a quite different and v beautiful game and you have to try and place all your pieces, def encourages spatial awareness!

So what about us grownups! on the whole, we try and buy games for the children that we will also enjoy playing. But there are some we play that they aren’t so ready for – though SB did enjoy pandemic this christmas But agricola is far too complex, and i think caylus is too, though settlers she plays quite happily. I think currently pandemic is my favourite, especially with the expansion pack! Pandemic: On the Brink which seems particularly cheap at the moment. I like the cooperative approach of players as a v chatty and Oh No! kind of game. I do still love agricola, but it takes a while, and have to be in the right mood!! for quicker games, race to the galaxy and alhambra are good. pandemic doesn’t last too long tho, we tend to die quickly!

so, lots of games to whet your appetite there!! oh, and games friends have that i beg them to bring

go on, try a few

these websites good for reviews and buying gameboard geek and gameslore

Previous resource Posts
maths

Art

Geography

Thinking Dinosaur

History resources

Resources overview

petits haricots is a participant in the the amazon Europe s.a.r.l. associates programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.co.uk

I think we succeeded in christmas, with we adults all working v hard to make it pleasant, enjoyable for all, but especially for the children.

so, the hard bits – please feel free to skim over.

It was dreadful to be without my sister, and there was no getting away from that. All of us had lumps in throats and sparkling eyes with tears at various points, but we worked hard to be joyful. Particularly sad was little e, who had been using all her wishes for mummy to join us at christmas. If my heart hadn’t already been broken, that would have finished me. But instead, from somewhere, i found the strength to cuddle her and read her a story and then sing her to sleep all snuggled in my arms. well, i didn’t quite sing her to sleep, as she was determined to stay awake until the end of the song and then fell asleep . my mum had sadness every evening, and i ached for her upset and her loss, and yet am so proud of her also for being game to play in the day with the kids. we allowed ourselves a witching hour as it were, when just she and I. Dad is doing a bit better. B-I-L quite well, though it was a bit disconcerting to hear him using some of viv’s vocal patterns – we all manage our grief in disparate ways. I am worried about M though, as he is tending to loner activities and loner playing on the wii. so, not knowing what was for the best, I limited his loner games and wii, and offered lots of ‘alongside’ activities, so didn’t necessarily have to join in communally, but would be doing something at same table/same room where all the chatter was. And it is the second difficult christmas in a row for at least some of us adults

Good things

i think, on the whole, it was good for all of us, to connect, be a family, be surrounded by the love, and know that we were valued and wanted flaws and all, difficulties and all.
we crafted, played games, giggled, ate and gave gifts that were tangible and yet also wrapped clearly in the intangible wrapping of love. we hugged, laughed, loved and celebrated the many facets that make christmas for us, the joy of giving and receiving, the joy of making others as well as ourselves happy, the pleasure of sharing food and memory moments, but most of all the gift of a loving family.

SO, the chronology

Mum and dad brought the cousins up on wed. we grownups finished making the house shipshape – curtains and nets back up [how lovely ] etc etc. i kept an eye on children, and they enjoyed crafting – making baubles and colouring in baker ross christmas crackers, and making fimo bits to put inside them, playing games and e and bb did some choc cake baking as well, whilst SB and M made sausage rolls to our secret formula [ ] i made muffins. lots of playing with the rabbits in the conservatory for the kids. Rabbit therapy is v potent . unfotunately snowy, the rascal, does so like burrowing, and has now made a burrow through one of the foam chair cushions so with the nibbling of the wires for the xmas decs in there, we created a bunnyditz and then struggled to keep the rabbits contained all xmas, because sedna can squeeze through the holes in the wire – just – and the children loving the rabbits weakened the structure of the fencing. oh well. More crafting/baking and games playing until christmas eve, when BIL, and MIL/FIL all arrived, and it began to feel christmassy. Jobs undone were left undone. we made quick work of the xmas veg and chatted and played games after the children went to bed. we were all v disappointed not to get the big hired telescope to work. we were all disappointed in NORAD this year, and children drifted off, tho dad was v excited about it still, and disagreeing with the flight plan the kids left out some fab letters to father christmas and some hand made chocolates. [edited to add, just realised i have blogged this all twice!]

christmas day!
all the santa stockings were left downstairs by the fire, so we went down with the children to open them, and were all v happy. SB was partic pleased by the nail polish kit, and BB by her alternative of a real piece of fossilised dinosaur egg and also a dig a dinosaur out thing. both got mini microscopes too and little colouring books, some choc coins, a choc snowman, orange and walnut. oh, and a santa puppet kit

we broke for brekkie and then got back to present opening. I think they had a really good mix of present options for all 4 children, and in partic the skates, scooters and lego went down well the trampoline had arrived, but since no adult particularly felt like frostbite, we left it in the garage and instead had got quickly got an extra pressie each for the girls – a glockenspiel for BB and lego for SB, and both v happy. lots of whizzing up and down our hallway on skates or scooters ensued – a bit of a shipping hazard for getting xmas dinner on the table!!Daddybean, i think, was v happy to get the geocaching box from SB, and a new active wii game I loved the gifts the girls had made me – a mug from SB and glass from BB as well as the pandemic game and expansion. BIL gave me an ipod dock – v generously – so i will need to wrangle with itunes at some point. xmas dinner lovely, as always, and then some games, lego making, kit joining up in the afternoon. Actually was quite a chilled and relaxed Xmas this year too. lots of child mayhem, but all happilly [noisily] and joyful. So, perhaps we were given a gift of christmas cheer and a bit of solace in a hard time, for all the effort and love we put into making it work.

boxing day
was actually more of the same minus presents! skating, game playing, lego building [M got a mindstorms for xmas] rabbit cuddling, crafting, eating, laughing, and when all quiet, crying. In fact, it was all so generally good, that BIL decided to stay till weds. they have always hurried off before, so i am glad that we could give him a full and loving house to enjoy this christmas. tried some of the new wii games. a few child tiffs – mostly due to lack of sleep as all sharing a bedroom . oh, and i ccaught a tuna on animal crossing, which i rarely play, so deeply dischuffed mum! SB’s game of smallworld was great, and M played that too. Dad and BIL less impressed with pandemic, as prefer directly confrontational games but happy with puerto rico and alhambra. BB liked her giro galippo until she didn’t win since it is her game, apparently she has to win! so then just played horses with it Chris’s parents went back home, and the house seemed emptier.

Monday.
SB had holiday orchestra. i have decided that in the future, if i am off, i am not so keen on her going out, tho she loves it, because i miss her so . so i dragged everyone else off for a geocache, in the slightly nippy weather . we found it, all enjoyed it, and did us all good to get some bracing fresh air all completed with a pub lunch.

tues
dad had contemplated us all going bowling when SB returned, but daddybean took her shopping insteaad, a communication fail i think, and so the children played and grumped! they hadn’t known about bowling, were just all suffering from post christmas tiredness. TBH so was I, and starting to feel the need to have my own house back. after all, had guests for a week, and the days before they arrived had been in hospital with BB so was feeling an acute need to breathe!! did have a slight grump with daddybean and dad, but pulled it together

weds
a bit stressful as had my dermatology appt about what was poss an odd mole, but the dermatologist thinks maybe lupus [eek, hope not either] and so now waiting for a biopsy. the girls hung about in the cafe and shops, and got a film for us all to watch when we got home to do a duvet day at the very end And there, really, ended my christmas break.

I might add pictures, or i might not. this last week i contemplated giving up blogging, but reading what i wrote about last christmas, i felt it helped me for this. i have fallen apart, I am trying to remake, and nothing will be as it was. But I am still here, surrounded by loving family and friends, and that matters. It matters a lot. i may have shot bolts at work, who knows, but here, at home, i hve all that is important if not all that i would want, and not all the people I would want. Looking ahead to my new years post, i make only one resolution, tho it is a big one. i resolve to change from a glass half empty to half full. or at least try. i do think that i have made the most of my time, well to the best of my ability anyway, but i think that being more of a half empty kind of girl, constant vigilence is required! But that, I guess, is another blog post. Merry christmas to all my dear friends, who have helped to keep me going in what has been such an awfully tough time, as well as to my family, who i love with my whole heart.

a very quick post as pretty tired!!

Wed we did some manic further tidying am, and then my parents, niece and nephew arrived. set them up with crafts and carried on tidying and preparing. had hoped to craft, but just 2 much stuff to do. I did manage to go up the v tall ladder lots to hang the nets and curtains at all the front windows – privacy at last!! did a fair bit of child wrangling as all too excited and not a dedicated adult lovely to have them all though. Also baked muffins.

thurs i was more dedcated so helped colour and craft including baubles, fimo , crackers. bb and e baked 2 cakes with me, sb and m played board games and wii games. rabbits have been coralled a bit as starting to like pulling cushions apart. played lots of christmas carols, was too snappy with both sb and bb [bb def a lot better, but v nasty bruise now on leg] but was lovely to e, including nearly singing her to sleep [she stayed awake, but t was v difficult, but she wanted to hear me to the end - aw bless ] M doesn’t talk about his mum, but e does, and she says her christmas wish is to see her mummy

played alhambra with sb and mum. made a lovely pea and mint soup and also brandy butter. tidying pretty much there. the house has a lived in rather than ransacked look to it now anyway

rather upsettingly, the hired telescope does not appear to be working

having to redo appraisal after xmas. TBH, I just wish we could say i was crap, the reasoning behind it, and move onto next year, but no, we have to discuss it at great horrible length. i don’t have the strength really to keep going to work, but am doing so. Discussing last year is like pulling the plug on that strength. SO by sat I was feeling v wobbly indeed, and uncertain how i could keep putting that foot infront of the other. Yes, I have lost my sister, whom i loved dearly, but i still have more loved ones alive just as dear, and the girls more so. But somehow that loss acts like a black hole on positivity. SO Saturday a v bad day. i have no idea what happened in the morning. in the afternoon we went to see voyage of the dawn treader. i loved the cinematography, it is beautiful. Its not exactly the book, and also not entirely the film for someone wobbling – better than up tho! But on the way out i knew I was done for the day, that although I had planned a lovely evening with a good friend, i just couldn’t do it. So sorry

The girls enjoyed the film, BB not entirely well, we had taken her to GP on fri as joints and tummy hurting, he couldn’t find anything specific and thought prob post viral. But the sea serpent def scary, and they decided A and L fish wouldn’t like it.

When we returned home, I deep breathed, and we crafted. BB and I made fimo pots for family membersd. they are fab i had to soften the fimo, cos although new and sealed in pack it was really dry and flaky, and v hard to get going. I wondered if that was due to the cold? or a poor batch?? anyway, did it. SHe made 2 that night. SB dipped mixed nuts and dried mango and apricot into milk choc for grandad – he will like that we chatted and laughed, SB is good at chatting and laughing, and she is so easy to join in. heart of gold that girl <3 I love how her eyes brighten and smile, and her words become butterflies and flitter all over the place. SOmetimes she changes direction that often even she gets confused All her presents are done. i made some choc gifts for ppl at work.

SUnday, BB and I together finished her presents in the morning, but she didn’t seem quite as well. She ate a hearty lunch though watching a film. SB is v good at eggy bread SB coloured in crackers and dd something on the ‘puter. I made curry to freeze for xmas, and a bit extra for the night. SB made a really fab felt bag for BB, which i will put up pic after xmas t took her quite a while, but she did it beuatifully. BB did some leappadding – a dinosaur book. we had a film-y afternoon but BB was worrying me as v off perk, and then her tummy pain got so bad she couldn’t bear to be touched. SO we trotted off to A and E. 3 1/2 hours later we were admitted with ? appendix or mesenteric adenitis. if she wasn’t improved, a CT scan the following day. A v uncomfortable night, especially since the surgical reg came and discussed results at 3am!! BB slept tho, and by the morning looked more comfortable. unfortuntely she also had a v florid rash. At least diagnosis easier – Henoch Schonlein purpura. Urine clear tho, and pain she was getting ? intussusception. but since pretty settled prob not, but could be bowel oedema or gallbladder oedema. also pancreatitis. not sure if amylase done? crp not too high though at 35, so excludes lots of the nasties. argh for worrying still. We were observed all day, but she was grad improving, so sent home for me to keep an eye on her as beds were in high demand and all the other kids had various viral nasties we didn’t want to get in tht room!! so i took 2 more days off work so could keep good eye on her. That won’t have gone down well either. But she has been pretty ill, and i was seriously v worried about her sun night, and only as we got to mon late aft was i sure she was improving. by then work had cancelled my work the following day and said i might as well leave things as is. We were v glad to get home. tummy still sore to touch, but fever settled, arthralgia pretty much gone. we just have to watch for relapse or intussusception. and have fortnightly appts at hospital, as risk of long term kidney probs. still a bit worried about the tummy pain tbh. we did try and watch last apprentice mon night, but i fell asleep v quickly.

Anyway cosmic supply company, i don’t need to be reminded further of what i have balanced against what i have lost. I am quite clear, it is what has kept me going these last nearly 4 months and kept me trying to smile and do as i tread the path. I wish for a happy and healthy next year please.

SB popped into see BB in hosp before going to nanna’s and hopefully is having fun there. Today i have hugged and been with BB, and also cleaned the conservatory and we have put the rabbit hutch in there. the blummin rabs have eaten all the wires to the xmas lights in there tho! my parents are going to think having them in there awful, but although not snowed, the weather outside freezing -7/-8 most evenings so says my car anyway. Have also sorted the living room and finished the playroom – daddybean had done most of the job, and today mostly did dining room. after BB went to bed, i have wrapped all the presents.

the days off work mean the few presents i did will be new year presents. Determined to do better in the new year. both at work and at home. I just feel so lost sometimes. I am also determined to at least look like i am enjoying christmas hugely, to not snap and grump and hopefully, if i try hard enough, i will enjoy it. It will be our first christmas without viv, and i hope that we can provide joy for her children and stewart. mum, dad and the kids arrive tomorrow, so prob won’t blog again till after.

so, happy christmas and hoping for a happy and healthy new year to you all.

v useful, a bit tricky to stretch on, so if you are at the upper limit of the size i would recommend the next size up

petits haricots is a participant in the the amazon Europe s.a.r.l. associates programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.co.uk

It was a lovely sunny morning here. we had a slow start due to a bit of internet messing about and silliness with friends last night in fact, the same messing about is slowing me down blogging tonight it is fun to have fun, but you have to know how

It became clear tho that dadybeans slow start wasn’t just tiredness, and that perhaps he wasn’t going to go out and about today. one of the potential things on the calendar had been a christmas thing at a place near us. but instead, serendipitously and fortuitously [or something] we managed to arrange for sum -1 [i can't find the button that will give me the right key as it were] of us to meet up with sum -1 of the manor borns and going geocaching to a christmas themed walk. it was great, a balmy 8 degrees, easy location to park, arrived pretty much simultaneously. SB was desperate to give Mi the present she had made her, and MDJ a present so he wouldn’t feel left out they both seemed happy.

Initially we looked for some numbers that were supposed to be near the carpark for a later geocache destination, but we couldn’t find them so moseyed to the christmas tree – v obvious, and the micro easy to locaate with coords for the main cache. we added some decs to the tree and then went to find the main cache. SB was enjoying getting muddy etc rather than being a bit more logical, so BB found it [with a few hints ] nice big box and lots of swaps done. placed in a travelbug of ours, as think it is a cache that will see a fair bit of visits before xmas.

then, whilst picking up directions for the secret santa one, we stumbled across 6 digits on a bridge, a quick conflab between me and MDJ and we decided that they could be the same as the ones we should have found by the carpark. we plugged them into the clue, and it was a possible, so we saved that for a 3rd geocache. the way to the santa a bit muddy, but we got there. luckilly mi had made and brought secret santas so could be swapped and everyone happy. MDJ got the best one tho i think, as the wherewithal to set up at least 2 geocaches he was v happy

so we went towards the hoped for coords of the final cache, and we were lucky again both girls enjoyed scampering for the caches, they were all big box caches rather than micros – always goes down well. a successful day geocaching

we returned to Mi house via a v wendy path had a delicious dinner, girls were true to their personalities and we did get some chance to chat, though with such avid earwiggers, actual gossip was difficult . their renovation work looking good tho. returned at a much more sensible hour and packed girls off to bed, found a few words of sympathy for DH and messed about on ‘puter. about to go to bed myself now